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Monday, December 29, 2014

Happy New Year to all with a wish for Peace at home and around the world. An inspiring message of peace is sent out by the Imagine Peace Tower in Rejkjavik, Iceland, a project by Yoko Ono. She created the peace tower in 2007, in memory of her husband, musician John Lennon of The Beatles.

Have you read about this project? It beams a message of peace several times each year, including from the Winter Solstice through New Year's Eve. For a live shot on New Year's Eve, see the Rejkjavik EarthCam.

Here's a wonderful free pattern by Amy Butler Design to start off the month of January. Use vibrantly colored prints to create a "Peace" wall hanging (and matching pillows!) Bring giant flowers inside to add an outdoors touch to any room.

And now, dear readers, please leave us a brief comment below to let us know where you're celebrating the New Year ! We'd love to learn where you are around the world, and we'll reply to every comment via e-mail. We'll start first :

From California and Arizona U.S.A., Marina and Daryl wish all of you a very Happy New Year, filled with endless blessings of peace, happiness, and prosperity !

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas to all! Here is a gorgeous quilt from our photo archive that reminds of the joys of childhood and Christmas.Four Seasons for Kirara by Ayako Kawakami, Chiba, Japan

Third place winner for Best Quilt Made by Hand in the 2013 Houston International Quilt Festival, Ayako Kawakami says, "I have many experiences with my daughter's growing up, so I wanted to make a quilt with a lot of good memories."

Ayako made all of this adorable quilt with hand applique, hand embroidery,
and hand quilting. We really admire her remarkable and talented work! She made nine small quilts with miniature scenes of children having fun. Let's make a snowman...

Each small quilt is overlaid with trees representing the season. In the photo below, hundreds of French knots were used to represent snow on the tall trees. The tiny houses at the top were whip-stitched with white thread to represent snow.

Monday, December 22, 2014

In searching for a quilt that would be meaningful to show for Christmas, we came up with this beautiful mini quilt by Vicki Bohnhoff. Knock And The Door Shall Open To You is the title of the quilt.

For this original design, Vicki Bohnhoff says, "I combined the door image of a Mykonos, Greece chapel with a Byzantine-Christ mosaic of an unknown artist to convey the Bible verse Matthew 7:7." Vicki has created a scene of a remote village with a small church whose single bell tolls out the message of the New Testament. Her lovely quilting pattern gives a striking three-dimensional look to this work, as if you could almost imagine entering through the red door for a Christmas Eve candlelight worship service.

Above: The most famous of the Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, made in the 12th century. As we celebrate the arrival of the Christ child and the arrival of new light into the world, we wish each of you and your families a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

Image credit: The photo of the quilt was taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2014 Arizona Quilters Guild show.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

There's something about the December holidays and the art of quilting
that goes together perfectly. Maybe it's the opportunity to share our
creative talents and ideas with others in the spirit of the season. In
that spirit, we're showing a very festive collection of quilts each week
until Christmas. Here is Part 3 !

Cathleen Anderson says, "I used The Whole Nine Yards in various techniques of embellishing... I put my own twist to this pattern and had great fun with the quilting." This quilt is based on a pattern by Melinda Bula in the book Candy Cane Lane: Quilts and More to Sweeten the Holidays (That Patchwork Place).

Marilyn McGinnis says, "These stately firs reflect the beauty of batik fabrics. What a great way to use my scraps and attempt beading for the first time!" The beading, which is not visible in this photo, was done along the edges of several of the miniature trees. The quilt was inspired by the Jeweled Forest pattern by Renee Peterson.

This quilt really puts us in the Christmas spirit! Kellie Willey won a blue ribbon in the Pieced-Medium category for her adaptation of the First Snow quilt pattern by Tina Curran. Kellie says "I reduced the pattern to 65% and rearranged the blocks. It was fun picking through my Christmas stash and adding decorations to the trees."

Close up, Will It Be A White Christmas by Kellie Willey

We loved seeing all the cute beads and fussy cut blocks in the tiny houses. In the red house above you can see gingerbread men in the windows and on the rooftop. The green house has a candy cane roof with rick rack trim; a snowman, mouse and cat are peering out of the windows.

In this block an angel places a golden star atop the Christmas tree as children, holding hands, look on. Felicia Brenoe's lovely feather quilting can be seen throughout the design. For some close up photos of the angels, see Felicia's website at Felicia's World.Baltimore Christmas by Sue Maitre, quilted by Linda Hrcka, 2014 AZQG

This stunning quilt won First Place in the Applique-Large category, and Exemplary Machine Quilting - Track Mounted, at the 2014 Arizona Quilters Guild show. Sue Maitre says, "Being a Santa collector, I knew Baltimore Christmas had to be a part of my collection." The Baltimore Christmas pattern is, of course, by Pearl P. Pereira at P3 Designs.

Close up, Baltimore Christmas by Sue Maitre, 2014 AZQG

We enjoyed the outstanding applique and quilting by Sue Maitre and quilting by Linda Hrcka, respectively. Check out the feather quilting coming out of Santa's pipe: it is done in charcoal thread to represent smoke. And what would Christmas be, without a Partridge in a Pear Tree?

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

This year, the beginning of Hanukkah gives us an opportunity to feature a truly multicultural craft form. We first came across African Folklore Embroidery when we spotted this intriguing Judaic African Collage at a 2014 quilt show. The designs and quilt are by artist Leora Raikin, who was born in South Africa and has lived in California for more than 15 years;
she was taught this creative needlecraft by her mother.

A Window of Many Flowers by Christine McCollum, quilted by Kathy Harris

The African Folklore Panels were hand embroidered by Christine McCollum, who used only two types of stitches: chain stitch and French knots. A collection of light and dark batiks join and frame the blocks in a braid pattern [Braid in a Day by Eleanor Burns.] This quilt was exhibited at the 2014 Tucson Quilters' Guild show. You can see Christine's beautiful embroidery in the closeup photos below.

The extreme contrasts of brightly colored threads against the black
fabric make these flowers both striking and beautiful.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

There's something about the December holidays and the art of quilting that goes together perfectly. Maybe it's the opportunity to share our creative talents and ideas with others in the spirit of the season. In that spirit, we're showing a very festive collection of quilts each week until Christmas. Here is Part 2 !

This quilt won the $1500.00 Directors Choice AND Viewer's Choice prizes at the 2014 Road to California Quilt Show. Kathy McNeil says, " [This quilt was inspired by] memories of a family Christmas sleigh ride. I really wanted to make the snow look like a watercolor painting done with fabric."

Close up, Jingle Bells by Kathy McNeil

Kathy McNeil's work is wonderfully lifelike, especially the textured coats on the horses and the snow-laden pines in the background. On her website, Kathy says: "I had so much fun designing the decorative and fancy harness and jingle bells." Can't you just hear those bells on the horses?

Nanette notes that this block was taken from a pattern by Darlene Christopherson called Nesting (it is out of print, but sometimes available on Ebay). The quilt was needle-turn appliqued and hand quilted. This applique motif reminds us of a beautiful, symmetrical Baltimore Album block, with its graceful curved leaves and stately redbirds.

A Long Night's Journey by Linda Haltom, 2014 American Quilters' Society Show - Phoenix

Here's a village enjoying Santa's arrival amidst the hushed serenity of a new snowfall. Linda Haltom writes, "This quilt is a depiction of Christmas Eve in the 1800's, along with toys of the period." Look closely and you can see some of the sparkles on the reindeer's harness and the trees. A Long Night's Journey took over a year to make; you can see the story here and a close-up photo below.

On the left, you can see the vintage doll peeking out of Santa's bag. The thread painting on his beard as well as the snowy background gives this wintry scene an excellent texture.

Char states, "This quilt was machine pieced, appliqued, and quilted. The pattern is Christmas Heart Lights - A Collection of Quilts book by Susie M. Robbins. Forty-seven hearts and forty-two berries adorn the quilt." The pinwheels in the background and the pretty half square triangle border on the top and bottom give this quilt a festive, cheery appearance.

Kris Lovetro explains, "I pieced the red bird center from a gift [of a pattern; see below]. Tamara Morker, Maureen Pastika, and Brenda Dickinson added the interior borders. I finished it with the last border and branches." The borders were all designed and added by different quilters, but they coordinate beautifully together.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

There's something about the December holidays and the art of quilting which goes together perfectly. Maybe it's the opportunity to share our creative talents and ideas with others in the spirit of the season. In that spirit, we're showing a very festive collection of quilts each week until Christmas. We discovered these quilts at the various shows we've attended in the past year. Enjoy !

From the 2014 American Quilters Society show in Phoenix, Arizona, Jane writes, "December, in all its dark beauty, brightened by snowflakes and surprise bursts of blue sky, was [my] inspiration for this quilt." We loved the dazzling display of intricate snowflakes, reminding us that no two of these marvels of nature are the same.

Isn't this a pretty quilting pattern? Jane notes that after drawing her own feather design for the open spaces in the quilt's borders, she quilted it herself on her home Bernina machine.

Gingerbread Wreaths, made by Felicia Brenoe, quilted by Lisa Sipes

At the 2014 Arizona Quilters' Guild Show, Felicia notes, "[A] cozy holiday atmosphere inspired this quilt." Felicia's charming quilt is machine appliqued and pieced, with hand embroidery on the circular gingerbread men which comprise the wreaths.

Close up, Gingerbread Wreaths by Felicia Brenoe

The gingerbread men happily dancing around the valentine hearts reminds of the cut-out strands of paper dolls that we played with as children. The Gingerbread Wreath pattern is by A Couple of Sisters Designs.

Sew Fine Snowmen, made and quilted by Michelle Howe

From the 2014 Road to California Show, Michelle says of her quilt, "My friendship group started a snowman block exchange, but everyone quilt after 3 blocks, so I did the rest myself." Sounds as if Michelle really saved the day, not to mention the quilt itself. These cheery and whimsical snow people make us more appreciative of nature's beauty in winter. We recognize some of them from the pattern in Quiltmania No. 80 in Nov/Dec 2010 (for a photo of that quilt click here.)

Close up, Sew Fine Snowmen by Michelle Howe

Michelle's echo quilting and spirals pattern give a great sense of snowflakes swirling in wind as they float towards the ground. Who can resist these adorable faces, which would brighten even the gloomiest day? (Note: a free "Welcome Friends and Flakes" stitchery pattern by Jan Wilde can be found at Mulberry Street.)

Elegant Christmas by Linda Bergmann, quilted by Lin Squires

A ribbon winner in the category of Medium Size Quilts-Various Techniques at the 2014 River City Quilters' Guild Show, Linda notes, "All the blocks were embroidered individually on the embroidery machine. I love making Christmas quilts. This one is for my granddaughters." Linda has included an array of holiday motifs, including words, in her unique and colorful design.

Here's another Christmas quilt that caught our eye from this year's River City Quilters Guild Show. Alice notes, "My friend, Bev Maertz, made a quilt with this pattern, and I used it for inspiration for this new little Christmas quilt." We love the candy-cane striped binding which gives extra sparkle and personality to this traditional pattern. Alice has done an excellent job of selecting contrasting and pleasing fabrics which highlight the four- pointed friendship stars.

All sorts of fun graphics were fussy-cut for the center of these blocks. The graceful spiral quilting pattern is a nice complement to the angular blocks. We admired Alice's accurate workmanship in getting all the corners of the half-square and quarter-square triangles to match !